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(CNN) –- Experiments conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) suggest that Earth’s bacteria could be used to extract useful minerals on the Moon or Mars.
Microorganisms are already used on Earth to extract economically important elements from rocks. This includes, for example, rare earth elements used in cell phones and other electronic devices.
British scientists spent 10 years developing matchbox-sized biomining reactors for the experiment. In July 2019, 18 of these devices were flown to the ISS aboard a SpaceX rocket. Small pieces of basalt, similar to much of the material on the surface of the Moon and Mars, were loaded into the devices and immersed in a bacterial solution.
Bacteria that function in three conditions of gravity
The three-week experiment evaluated the potential of three species of bacteria to extract rare earth elements from basalt. Only one, Sphingomonas desiccabilis, was able to leach rare earth elements from basalt under three different gravity conditions. In microgravity (sometimes called zero gravity), Mars-like gravity, and standard conditions on Earth.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications Tuesday. Their results show that biomining on the Moon and Mars may be possible.
Astronaut Luca Parmitano, of the European Space Agency, conducts the experiment with biomining reactors on the International Space Station.
The Moon is not yet a gainful activity
It is unlikely that it will be economically feasible to mine these elements in space and return them to Earth, according to Charles Cockell. Cockell, who led the project, is Professor of Astrobiology at the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Edinburgh. However, he said space biomination could potentially support a self-sustaining human presence in space.
“Our experiments support the scientific and technical feasibility of biologically enhanced elemental extraction throughout the Solar System,” he said in a news release.
“For example, our results suggest that building mines operated by robots and humans in the Moon region Oceanus Procellarum, which has rocks with enriched concentrations of rare earth elements, could be a fruitful direction of human scientific and economic development further on. the Earth, “he explained.
Great interest in space resources
Many countries are interested in space resources. NASA said it is looking for commercial companies to collect dust and rocks from the lunar surface. He also talked about his plan to send the first woman and next man to the moon as part of his Artemis mission by 2024.
The European Space Agency has stated that it plans to start extracting water and oxygen from the moon by 2025. On the other hand, China is expected to launch a rover by the end of the year that will land on the moon and bring samples of lunar soil to the Moon. Land.
“Microorganisms are very versatile and as we move through space, they can be used to perform a variety of processes. Elementary extraction is potentially one of them, “said Rosa Santomartino, a postdoctoral scientific researcher at the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Edinburgh, who worked on the project.
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